Genmab Rises as Danske Sees FDA Breakthrough: Copenhagen Mover

By Peter Levring -
Feb 15, 2013

Genmab A/S advanced to a three-day
high in Copenhagen trading as Danske Bank A/S said the company
may get a “breakthrough” designation by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration for an experimental cancer drug.

Genmab rose as much as 2.4 percent, the most since Feb. 12.
The stock advanced 2 percent to 99.45 kroner at 2:16 p.m. in the
Danish capital, with trading volume at 53 percent of the three-
month daily average. Shares in the Copenhagen-based drug
developer rose more than any of the 20 companies in the OMX
Copenhagen 20 benchmark index, which slid 0.1 percent.

Genmab’s daratumumab, a drug partnered with Johnson &
Johnson for multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that starts in
the plasma cells in bone marrow, is an “obvious candidate” to
receive a breakthrough therapy designation by the FDA, Danske
analyst Thomas Bowers said.

“We have been positively surprised by the efficacy that
this antibody has demonstrated in myeloma,” Bowers said in a
telephone interview. “Perhaps it can get on the market as a
single agent. I think it ticks all the boxes to get the
breakthrough designation from the FDA.”

Genmab spokeswoman Rachel Gravesen declined to say whether
the company has applied for breakthrough status, when contacted
by phone today.

Ibrutinib, an experimental therapy for blood cancers being
developed by Pharmacyclics Inc., received the breakthrough
status from the FDA two days ago, giving it a head-start on the
road to approval.

Bowers said he’s keeping a buy recommendation on the Genmab
shares and raised the 12-month price target by 20 kroner to 135
kroner per share. Five analysts recommend buying shares in
Genmab, one is neutral and two recommend reducing stock holdings
in the company.